Inside Story: Jesus vs. the Dragon

Jesus Versus the Dragon

By Andrew McChesney

Something strange happened to Kue in northern Laos in late 2020. Her body, and especially her belly, started to swell up.

Her worried husband, Cheng, took her to the local shaman, who informed them that a dragon at impregnated Kue and intended to take her away to an underwater world. “You need to give animal sacrifices to appease the dragon and to call back Kue’s spirit,” the shaman said, solemnly.

Image © Pacific Press

Cheng readily gave the shaman everything that he demanded, but Kue only got worse. Cheng turned to traditional healers for multiple treatments over the next two months, but nothing helped. He spent everything on shamans and traditional healers, but Kue’s health continued to deteriorate.

Finally, Cheng thought about asking a Christian pastor to pray for Kue.

Two Seventh-day Adventist leaders happened to be visiting Kue’s village at the time and, after praying for her, decided to send her to a hospital in Laos’ capital, Vientiane. At the hospital, the physician diagnosed Kue with Nephrotic syndrome, a kidney disorder whose symptoms include swelling linked to excess fluid retention. But after a week in the hospital, Kue sank into a coma and had to be placed on life support. She was transferred to the intensive care unit, where the physician put her chances of survival at 50-50. He asked who would pay the high medical bills to keep her under his care.

Cheng spoke with his relatives and realized that they did not have the money. Adventist leaders, who had brought Kue to the capital and paid her initial hospital bills, also lacked the funds. Faced with high bills and no assurance that Kue would recover, Cheng made the difficult decision to remove her from life support and bring her home.

“It was very painful to send her back home to die, but there was nothing we could do for her,” a church leader said later. “The only hope left was that God would show mercy and perform a miracle for her.”

Days after returning home, Cheng called the Adventist district pastor to ask him to pray for Kue in their home. The pastor, who arrived with several Bible workers, lived far away. He decided to stay for a few days so he also could assist with the funeral. As the family waited for Kau to die, the pastor and Bible workers fasted and prayed daily. Instead of dying, Kue improved. She began to breathe easily on her own, and the swelling subsided. By May 2021, she was able to walk without assistance.

Today, Kue is a living testimony to the people of northern Laos that there is a God in heaven.

Thank you for your Sabbath School mission offerings that support the spread of the gospel in Laos and around the world.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

Amen!